Military factor and Bosso voter apathy fears

Only 180 members turned up to cast their vote at Bosso's elective congress held at the clubhouse on Sunday.

The congress confirmed retired Colonel Kenneth Mhlophe as the new Highlanders' chairman for a three-year term, with Israel Moyo as secretary-general and Wisdom Mabhena as a committee member.

This was the lowest turnout of the past four elections despite drawing members from Harare, South Africa, Victoria Falls, Beitbridge, Plumtree, Gwanda and other parts of the country.

In 2015, when Peter Dube retained his chairmanship unopposed, 215 bona fide Bosso members cast their votes. There were 350 members at the 2012 elections, which first ushered in Dube and 268 turned up for the 2009 elections, which saw Themba Ndlela winning the chairmanship.

Bosso CEO Dube heaped praise on club members that cast their vote, saying there were many factors to the low turnouts.

"Even when we were winning the four championships in a row at the turn of the millennium, we didn't form a quorum. This is not to say it's right, but you have to understand that in reality, attending the annual general meeting as well as an elective congress is voluntary," said Dube.

"We continue to hold the meetings with those few Highlanders' members so that the business of the club is not restricted by those who don't attend the meetings. One thing to also look at is that some of the Highlanders members might be outside the country while others might be having pressing matters to attend to.

"Resolutions and policies that have kept this great institution, arguably one of the best administered in land, have been formulated by the few members who take their precious time to attend meetings. Calling for any meeting is done accordingly by advertising in the media as per our constitution and it is the duty of every member to attend.

"What you have to note is that there is no constitutional provision which states that once a member misses a certain number of meetings he or she ceases to be a member. We can't force people to take responsibility, we can only encourage members to attend meetings and participate in Highlanders' business," Dube said.

On Sunday, Moyo polled 104 votes to emerge as the new club secretary-general, with his challengers Nkululeko Ndlovu and Siphatho Ncube getting 15 and 60 votes respectively. There was one spoiled vote.

Voting was done under a peaceful atmosphere and voters accepted the results.